Love After Letdown
by Indyahh
Summary: This is a story of Booth and Brennan's relationship in and after the episode, The Doctor in the Photo. This will focus on their relationship very heavily and very little on the actual cases.
1. Chapter 1

"No, I'm fine. Alone. Thanks."

Those words absolutely crushed him. He didn't know what to do. Why did Hannah have to come back tonight? Why couldn't she stay away for just one more night? He wanted to take Bones home and comfort her; he wanted to be there for her like he promised her he would. He didn't want her to suffer alone. She's had to suffer alone for long enough. For the first time since Hannah had come to live with him, he wished she had just stayed away.

Booth was trying to stay focused on the road with the heavy downpour but Brennan's sudden declaration of her feelings for him made it very hard to do so. He knew that no matter how he could've said it, she was going to be hurt. He couldn't leave Hannah. Not now. He loved her and he was sure she loved him back. He wasn't that guy. He had to do Hannah right and as much as he hated it, he had to tell Bones that he couldn't leave Hannah for her. But why did she have to choose now to tell him this? Couldn't she have told him when they were outside the FBI building those many months ago? Why did she have to wait 8 months later after he found Hannah and was trying to be happy with her?

The conversation was on replay in his head, as he was sure it was in hers too. They sat there in an understood silence as both of them relived the conversation over again.

"_Maybe you just need a couple days off." Booth said understanding this case took a toll on his partner._

"_I'm alright now. Except I…I made a mistake." She said. _

"_I told you my opinion. You got it right."_

"_Not everything. She died with regrets." He didn't know where she was going with this but he could tell it wouldn't be good._

"_Come on Bones, everybody has regrets." Booth tried to reassure her but he could tell he was failing._

"_I heard her, you know? Micah says that all we get are these, dim, staticky messages from the Universe."_

"_Who's this, uh, Micah guy?" Booth asked confused._

"_The night watchman, he attends a lot of lectures. Anyway, the point is, she never gave him a chance."_

"_Micah?" He was definitely confused now._

"_No, no, the helicopter pilot. He offered himself to her, but she never gave him a chance. That was her regret. I got the signal Booth. I don't wanna have any regrets."_

_Booth didn't know what to say. He didn't want to hurt her. He'd rather die than hurt her. But he had to tell her the truth. _

"_Ya know I'm with someone, Bones. And uh, Hannah, she's not a consolation prize. I love her." _

_Brennan suddenly broke down and the sound of her crying made Booth break inside._

"_Ya know the last thing I wanna do is hurt you, but those are the facts." Trying, and failing, to make it better._

"_Yeah…I understand. I missed my chance. My whole world turned upside down. I can adjust." _

"_I did." He hated this so much. He wanted to make her feel better but didn't know how._

"_Yes, you did."_

"_Do you want me to, uh, call someone to, uh, be with you?" Booth said regretting the fact that Hannah was coming home tonight._

"_No, I'm fine. Alone. Thanks."_

Those last few words would forever be burned in his brain. They just kept repeating themselves again and again. He could barely keep his eyes on the road, especially in the condition she was in. He wanted so much to just envelope her in a hug. He wanted to take all her fears and problems away. But to do that he would have to take himself away and he couldn't do that. Not to himself and especially not her. Not after she opened so much of herself up to him.

The last words Brennan spoke to him were on their hundredth time loop when he pulled up to her apartment. He shut the car off and they both just sat there not knowing what to do. He looked up just in time to see a silent tear slide down her face. He reached up and brushed it away and pulled her into another one his "guy hugs." He sat there holding her and she silently continued to cry. He would give anything to just go upstairs with her but he knew Hannah was home waiting for him. He pulled away and looked at her.

"Everything's going to be okay, Temperance. I promise. It will all be okay. Trust me."

He knew that she trusted him with her life but he needed her to trust him now more than anything. He needed that reassurance.

"I trust you Booth."

And with that, she climbed out of the car, into the pouring rain and walked up the sidewalk into her apartment building. Alone.


	2. Chapter 2

She blindly walked through the rain.

She blindly walked into the building.

She blindly walked up the stairs.

She blindly unlocked her door.

She blindly stepped into her apartment.

It wasn't until she stood in her dark living room that she finally saw where she was. She finally saw how alone she really was. She had never felt so alone in life until that very moment, standing there in her dark study, the lights off, and the rain pouring down outside. She wanted so much to turn around and chase after Booth's car, begging for another chance. She had no idea where these thoughts were coming from. She knew that that wasn't the rational thing to do. She knew that Booth said what he meant and that he would never be able to do that to Hannah. She respected him for it and that's what made the rejection hurt even more. She had let one of the good guys go, whatever that meant. Ange always talked about how Booth was one of the few good guys left.

Brennan knew that Booth wouldn't leave Hannah for her. Not now, not after all this time had passed between them. But after talking to Micah and working this case, she had to try. She didn't want to regret it. She would've hated herself for not trying to get Booth back.

So she tried.

And she failed.

"_Ya know the last thing I wanna do is hurt you, but those are the facts."_

That's all she could hear as she made her way to her bedroom. She knew Booth would die for her. He would kill for her. He would do anything for her. She knew he cared for her, but it wasn't the same anymore. He had someone else that he would die and kill for. Brennan had to take that into consideration. As she lay in bed, she had hoped she would hear a knock on her door and Booth would be on the other side with Chinese, claiming he had seen her lights from the road, like he had done those couple of times before. But she knew it was wishful thinking. And as she drifted off into what was going to be a very restless sleep, tears silently streaked her face and Booth's words were on constant repeat in her head.

"_Ya know the last thing I wanna do is hurt you, but those are the facts."_

It took Booth longer than usual to make his way home. Multiple times he had pulled a U-turn and made his way back to Brennan's place and each time, he'd make it half way there and then turn around. Once, he even made it to her apartment building and stayed parked outside for a couple of minutes. He didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to go up there. Part of the reason was because Hannah was still waiting for him at home. And the other part knew he had been the one to hurt her. Why was he allowed the opportunity to make the hurt worse by solidifying the fact that they couldn't be together by reiterating what had already been said?

He couldn't make it worse on her. He already knew how big a deal it was for her to open up the way she did; he didn't need to add salt to the wound by sticking around afterwards not making things better. So, he started the engine and drove home, still thinking of her being alone for the night. It was something she had unfortunately become comfortable with and he wanted to change that. He wanted so badly to change that and he was only making it worse on her. How could he do that to someone so close to him? Someone he swore he would protect?

The rest of the drive home was filled with him beating himself up for the way he treated her. He finally made it home and was surprised to see the lights in his place were still on. He begrudgingly made his way upstairs and unlocked the door to see Hannah sitting in the arm chair by the window quietly reading a magazine. She looked up in time to see him try to mask his feelings over. She knew something was up, something out of the normal.

"Seeley, what's wrong?"

He REALLY didn't want to talk to her about it. He didn't know if he should or not. This wasn't the usual problem he had with Bones and he didn't know if Hannah would take it well. Especially considering everyone kept mentioning to her about how him and Bones had had a thing for a while. How was this going to sit with her? He honestly didn't know. He could just pretend nothing was wrong and keep it to himself. That should work, but she'd be able to see right through it, especially since he didn't have time to mask his feelings before walking through the door. He didn't expect to see her sitting right there. Oh well, here goes his best poker face he could pull off.

"Nothing's wrong baby, it's just been a long night and I had to go chase Bones through this rough neighborhood in the pouring rain. I'm just tired. I know you just got back, but I think I'm gonna call it a night."

She definitely knew something was up, whether she would press on the matter or not was totally unknown to Booth. Besides Bones, Hannah was the only other person Booth couldn't get a good read off of. He could normally tell where her thoughts were headed, but tonight was like reading a blank page.

She studied him, studied him hard, and surprisingly, she let it slide.

For now.

"Okay, we'll just pick this up later."

Booth didn't even take a second glance. He just walked past her, into the bedroom and closed the door. She'd come in when she knew he was in bed. He slowly undressed and threw on a t-shirt and shorts and climbed in bed. He didn't realize how tired he actually was until he laid down. His eyes suddenly grew heavy and he fell asleep thinking of Bones lying in bed, alone with her own thoughts and her own heartbreak.


End file.
